youngr3 said:
Based on my conversation with Supervisor at CS and his statement that there are 900 cars in port which will cover "most" of the Sept/October orders, am I correct in my calculations that only about 25% of all orders are posted in the spreadsheet? Is this likely to be lower for later orders?
Today's Nissan press release http://nissannews.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=06C184862CD3D744B959C33CFD454CCC?&id=2414 and the report on http://www.detnews.com/article/20110420/AUTO01/104200388/1361/Nissan-to-increase-North-American-production--Leaf-offerings provide some basis for knowing the % of delivered Leafs reported on the spreadsheet.
Spreadsheet has 120 deliveries through the end of March if you include evdriver which shows delivered but doesn't have a delivered date entered and has delivery estimate on dashboard of 3/2011. The Detroit News reports Nissan sold 452 Leafs in the US through the end of March. If accurate information, then 26.5% of deliveries through the end of March are reported on the spreadsheet.
Some of the MNL discussion has indicated that later orders have a lower reporting rate on the spreadsheet.
Information from the dealer I ordered from supports this. Newton Nissan of Gallatin (EXCELLENT dealer) has taken orders for 15 Leafs. But only their first order (brad) and second order (myself) are on the spreadsheet. A very low 13.3% spreadsheet reporting rate.
May be less spreadsheet reporting of the later orders, and also quite a bit of variation among the states. CA probably higher reporting, and TN lower reporting.
Press release and the Detroit News report at least partially backs up what CS told you. Detroit News report indicates 448 deliveries projected for April, which is probably in line with 900 vehicles in port, considering the delays for the air conditioning corrections. That will be an all new record of 15 vehicles per day being delivered.
That will probably provide for delivery to all the Sept/Oct orders. Spreadsheet has 173 Sept/Oct orders not delivered yet. If the 26.5% ratio holds, they need 652 Leafs to fill those orders.
Looking at orders through December, there are 241 not delivered yet. If the 26.5% ratio holds, they need 909 Leafs to fill all of them.
They may get all of the Sept to December orders filled within the next couple months.
Depends on how quickly they caught the horrendous order SNAFU and how they are going about correcting it. Spreadsheet only shows a couple deliveries to January orders. But there are quite a few January / February orders that still show dashboard delivery projections in the next couple months.
If they stick by the projections / VIN #s they gave to later orders, some # of earlier orders may end up waiting for delivery in late June / July.
I still believe Nissan would have been much better off to provide more detailed information on the order SNAFU and a straight up apology. They have shared a few bits here and there with individuals in phone conversations which they have then shared on MNL. But a straight up detailed explanation of the human performance error that caused the order SNAFU and an apology would have gone a lot further than press releases and new waves of very expensive television ads.
It is hard to get over the bad public relations of inadequately communicating to several hundred intense early adopters whose orders got lost or shuffled to the back of the queue for some period of time.
I still look forward to getting the Leaf and I share that enthusiasm with my friends and co-workers. But they also hear the whole story. An order SNAFU with no explanation or apology. A four page disclaimer only provided at the point of ordering about warranty (or lack thereof on the battery) and uncertainties of suitability in cold climate (TN has gotten to -24F before, not often, but once in a long while). And a completely unnecessary lack of any information about option details to place the order.
Overall Nissan has done very well with the Leaf roll-out. But it doesn't take too many flaws to reduce the value of the diamond.
